K-Number
Seyoung Jo / Republic of Korea (South Korea) / 2024 / International Premiere / 112 min
A Korean adoptee seeks answers about her biological origins, but ends up unravelling the shadowy side of international adoption. An existential detective film with red threads to Denmark.
Mioka Miller has visited Korea many times in her search for her biological family, so far without success. She was reportedly found on the streets in 1974 and put up for adoption. But Mikoa was neither orphaned nor abandoned, so why was she sent abroad? ‘K-Number’ is an exploration of the history of adoption in Korea, but it’s also a poignant, personal story of one woman’s search for answers. The journey leads through Korean bureaucracy and on to Denmark and Sweden. The adoption agency turns out to be less than cooperative, the original paperwork is inaccurate, and it turns out that Mioka is far from the only one who has been adopted under mysterious circumstances. The journey turns into a mission to investigate the systematic export of children and takes a disturbing turn when it turns out that for some years the number of missing children was almost identical to the number of adoptees. The question remains whether Mioka will ever be reunited with her biological mother.